Fireworks Ban Proposed

DIGEST

PEMBROKE PINES - — City Commissioner Ben Fiorendino plans on Wednesday to propose banning the sale of legal fireworks in the city.

"What do we need them for? So kids can get hurt? So kids can be blinded for life? We don't need that," he said Friday.

Every year, around Independence Day, about a half-dozen tents with vendors selling fireworks pop up along city streets. Although no injuries are known to have resulted, "every Fourth of July year hear about kids getting hurt everywhere else," Fiorendino said.

If a ban is approved, it would be the second time in a decade. The commission outlawed the sale of fireworks in the late 1980s but reversed itself in 1991 and began allowing the sale of sparklers and state-approved novelty items. Fiorendino said he will propose banning sales for all age groups.